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World Adventures ReleasedThe first expansion pack for The Sims 3 is finally here! The Sims 3 World Adventures gives your Sims the chance to take off to locations as exotic as Egypt and the Far East, learn new skills, and find treasures to take home. Find out more in our section for the expansion pack. More >

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The Sims 3 World AdventuresCheck out our new section dedicated to the first expansion pack for The Sims 3. We've got screenshots, videos, preview links, and more.

GP: How much of an effect on the game do the “moodlets” have? Will a Sim specifically crave particular moodlets, and will they have a huge effect on their personality?

Rodiek: Moodlets have a huge impact on the game. They’ve more or less replaced the Needs Bars (i.e. Bladder, Hygiene) from previous Sims games. Those still exist, but Moodlets are the focus. Moodlets are the manifestation of your Sims’ thoughts, emotions, and experiences. They can be significant (First Kiss), minor (Minty Breath), devastating (On Fire), or everything in between. The Moodlets are easily one of my favourite things about The Sims 3.

Based on your Sim’s personality traits, you’ll be given a list of five “lifetime wishes,” of which you can choose one (there are about thirty possibilities). These are also tied into your choice of 12 different careers. Each career has its own associated rewards and promotions. By succeeding at your job, you’ll get reward points that you can put toward things like “lifetime rewards” -- for example, writers could become Acclaimed Authors if enough of their work is published.

A few days ago we began to suspect that The Sims 3 was going to be delayed from its original February release date, after some changes to the official site and to the shipping dates on pre-orders. Unfortunately, an announcement from EA has confirmed that news; the game will now ship to store shelves worldwide starting June 2, 2009.

“The June launch combined with the break-through game the team is building gives us the perfect runway to create awareness for The Sims 3,” said Russell Arons, Vice President of Marketing for EA. “The Sims 3 will be the original IP summer blockbuster of 2009 as we build off the success of the best-selling PC franchise of all time to create awareness with both loyal Sims fans and new players.”

Parismonious, a free download site for the Sims games, has posted a review of The Sims 3. Kate, who wrote the review, attended the Creator's Camp hosted by Maxis in January 2009. There are several sections to the article, covering the gameplay, Create-A-Style, Create-A-Sim, building houses, and more.

I was about 10 minutes into playing The Sims 3 when I realized something quite astonishing: my sims hadn't gone to the bathroom yet. And despite still having virtual bladders, they didn't need to constantly heed the call of nature. Now if you played The Sims and The Sims 2, you will remember that you had to handhold your sims' lives; this includes each and every bathroom break, which seemingly occur every minute or two in game time. That's a lot of flushing. Yet, here I was, at EA, playing The Sims 3 and discovering that what the designers have been promising seems to be true: The Sims 3 is a much broader game than its predecessors, more concerned with telling stories than with focusing on the ordinary minutiae of everyday life.

The digital download of The Sims 3 can now be pre-ordered at Direct2Drive, ahead of its release in February this year. The digital download version is only available for purchase in North America, and is priced at $49.95.

We didn't want to hype the game before we had something to show. If you look at our past appearances, we've almost always shown some form of gameplay, whether it's a video focused on gameplay or an actual producer or designer demo. We wanted to provide something really new and exciting for our players. We were also still making new and cool expansion packs for The Sims 2 and didn't want to detract from their spotlight.

British newspaper The Times published an exclusive video preview of The Sims 3 earlier this month on their website.

Ben Bell, a computer game producer, guides us through the features of the brilliantly bizarre world of Sims 3. Prepare yourself for video mash-ups, flirty and "inappropriate" character traits and neighbourhoods redolent of Wisteria Lane.

Ben Bell, executive producer of The Sims 3 at EA / Maxis, was interviewed by Kikizo.

If I share my household, it would go on my website, and anyone who's paying attention to my website would get an update: "Remy's household was updated on Ben's player page" and then I could do a personal log alongside of it. So people can check in and see what's happening. For a lot of people I know who like to write, that's one way they like to use the game. It's kind of an experimentation platform.

EA today released a massive, 30-question long Q&A for The Sims 3. Read through it at Kotaku.com.

10.What about the game has been upgraded and what is completely new? Also, can you explain a bit about how the new 'boundaries' work? What kind of activity will be opened up for the Sims?

The first thing that people will notice about The Sims 3 is the world around them. If you see it, you can go there. In the past, The Sims players were confined to playing on little levels that we called lots. Now there are now boundaries. The technology is incredible because we can show you the tiniest detail of your home, like the petals on a flower. A few seconds later you can look at the tiniest freckle on a Sim on the other side of town. This all happens in real time. We're in a great place as developers these days: Realism has been achieved...check. We can just focus on style and delivering seamless experiences so that the player can be completely immersed in their story.

EA has set up pages for The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 on the free social networking and micro-blogging site, Twitter. Never heard of Twitter? This is how it's described:

Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Join today to start receiving [TheSims2's/TheSims3's] updates.

Click here for The Sims 2, and click here for The Sims 3. Tell them we sent you!

GameSpy has uploaded a video of John McCain and Sarah Palin dancing... well, Sim versions of them dancing in The Sims 3 anyway. Funny, bizarre, disturbing - whatever you want to call it, it's relevant with the significance of tomorrow! Also available is a clip titled "Palin and Biden Fight".

EA has announced that the Collector's Edition of the upcoming The Sims 3 is now available to pre-order from a number of North American online and high street retailers. The Collector's Edition, in stores on February 20, 2009, will include a USB drive, a guide, and an in-game European-styled sports car. Those who pre-order the game now will also receive an additional exclusive in-game vintage sports car, and a collectible poster (all available while stocks last).

An EA press release from a few days ago noted that Rod Humble, formely the executive producer for the Sims division of Electronic Arts, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Head of The Sims Label. He replaces Nancy Smith, who will receive a new executive role at EA to be defined over the coming months.

You may have already met the Sim version of Rod Humble in The Sims 2 FreeTime, in which he turns up with a free computer promoting The Sims 3.

IGN.com has another preview up for The Sims 3. This time, an assistant producer took them through the game at GC Asia 2008, with a particular focus on some of the core innovations of the title such as traits and Moodlets.

John Gaudiosi of CrispyGamer.com has previewed The Sims 3. The preview uses the profiles of two Sims, Arnie and Herman, to help explain how many of the new features of the game will work. The article also includes a few words from Ben Bell, the executive producer of The Sims 3.

Arnie and Herman share a large home with a nice swimming pool in Pleasant Valley. Arnie is a politician whose lifetime wish is to become the leader of the free world. Herman also has high aspirations, wanting to become an astronaut. Arnie is a party animal and great conversationalist, which is good for winning votes, but also materialistic. Herman is brave (an important attribute for an astronaut) but also clumsy, which means every once in a while he may set the kitchen on fire.

Tracey John blogged today at MTV Multiplayer, going over some details of The Sims 3 after getting a look at the upcoming game last week. The first half of the blog covers topics such as house building and the improved interface; the second half investigates torture and WooHoo-ing in The Sims 3.

Associate producer Lyndsay Pearson (with whom the blogger spoke with) confirmed that yes, "you will still be able to mess with [your Sims]". You'll be able to mess with your neighbours too. It will be possible go to their houses, steal their stuff, or break their TVs.

These deviant behaviors are related to the new personality traits system, where each character can have five distinct personality traits that shape how your Sim behaves and interacts. “You can be a kleptomaniac, you can be evil, and actually, evil Sims will steal candy from babies,” she said with a laugh.

Pearson confirmed that Sims will still WooHoo "all the time", and will now be able to do it in different places, for example, the workplace.

“We’ve expanded that into the open world as well,” she explained. “Your Sim can go on a tour of City Hall and while they happen to be there, they could woohoo there. Then they might get caught and run out in their underwear or they’ll run out in an outfit from a job there or something like that. Or if your spouse works at the science lab, you could go visit them in the middle of the day… [laughs] So you know, we support that. That’s cool.”

Some lines will be drawn however - no WooHoo-ing at parks or schools for example.